


The Opposite of an Obscurus

by speccygeekgrrl



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Credence Barebone Heals, M/M, Phoenixes, Secret Identity, Whumptober
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-24
Updated: 2020-03-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:27:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23290201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/speccygeekgrrl/pseuds/speccygeekgrrl
Summary: On a trip to Egypt, Credence gets a lesson about Phoenixes which has immediate practical applications far beyond what Newt thinks to tell him.
Relationships: Credence Barebone/Newt Scamander
Comments: 8
Kudos: 63





	The Opposite of an Obscurus

**Author's Note:**

> Another whump prompt, for "harsh climate" and "stranded". 
> 
> I make no apologies for this being 20% hurt and 80% comfort.

Credence could handle the cold if he had to. He'd spent too many cold winter days out on the streets of New York with a too-thin jacket and holes in his shoes, and... he was ice at the core anyways, the biting cold of the Obscurus inside him at all times, even if he'd recently been able to muffle it in the warm blankets of confidence he'd been accruing under Newt's patient tutelage. He hated the cold, but he could survive it.

The heat, though, was a whole other matter entirely. Egypt might have been on an entirely different planet from the way it felt, or maybe in Hell. He'd spent long, terrified nights thinking about Hell, wondering what it would be like when he inevitably arrived there, and this seemed about right: too hot to dress decently, but with the sun bright enough to scorch any exposed part of his pale, sweaty skin. Credence did his best to stay either indoors or in Newt's case, hanging out in the Mooncalves' pleasantly cool habitat and letting himself be swarmed by the soft things that for some reason seemed to love him.

Newt insisted that Credence come out to see the sights, though, and the sight of a baby Sphinx nestled between the forepaws of the Great Sphinx was definitely worth braving the heat that felt like a slap in the face when Credence emerged into it. After Newt showed Credence how to alter the umbrella spell into opaqueness, Credence had a serviceable parasol with his wand perched on his shoulder. They went for a walk to appreciate the Pyramids while Newt rambled on about the magical creatures that made their homes in the tombs of ancient Egyptian wizards.

"So which one are we trying to collect?" Credence asked dryly. 

Newt shook his head. "I don't think I could make a habitat where anything down there could thrive," he said.

"Well, what about ones that live above? This is... kind of like your version of Arizona," Credence said, _except your Arizona doesn't feel like damnation_.

"Phoenixes are native to this area," Newt said, in a dreamy tone. "Exceptionally rare, incredibly powerful birds, utterly loyal to whatever person they deem worthy. We'd be lucky to even catch sight of one."

"What else can you tell me about them?" Credence asked, purely for the sake of the way Newt beamed brighter than the desert sun to be encouraged to talk about his specialty. "My wand's core came from a Phoenix... I should know more about them."

"Let's see," Newt said, looking down at his freckled hands before beginning to shape the air with them. "They're great big crimson birds, about as large as a swan, but with a golden tail, long like a peacock's. The song of a Phoenix makes courage burn in the breasts of the good, and strikes fear in evil hearts. And they don't die."

"They don't die?" Credence echoed skeptically.

"When a Phoenix grows old, it bursts into flame and burns itself to ashes, and then is reborn in the ashes as a chick," Newt said. 

Credence chewed on his lip as the thought struck him that an Obscurus must be the opposite of a Phoenix: darkness and cold, ripping him to shreds as it burst through his skin and then reforming him weak as a babe after its rampage of death and destruction. He shivered despite the heat and tuned back into Newt's animated description of the properties of phoenix tears.

They were rounding the last pyramid when a bit of junk at the base of one slope caught Newt's eye. "Honestly, people have no respect," he sighed, bent down to pick it up and abruptly wasn't there any more, leaving a dumbfounded Credence alone in Giza with nothing more than his wand.

"... _damn_ it," Credence said, the strongest curse he could allow himself, but one that felt ideally suited to his situation, stranded in the closest thing to Hell he knew. He stood uncertainly in place for a few minutes, hoping against hope that Newt would Apparate back and fetch him, but when Newt didn't make his appearance, Credence trudged around the pyramid so at least he could be in its shadow.

He'd only learned Aguamenti a few days earlier, but he held his wand straight up and let the water fall on him instead of trying to tame the flow, and that worked well enough, even if his clothes baked themselves dry in mere minutes. At least he wouldn't die of thirst.

In the dark shadow of the pyramid, Credence scanned the sands and saw nothing but ancient monuments of long-dead rulers. This was a place of power, hostile to him, and Credence didn't want to die and stay here, even if Hell was all he deserved.

Something touched his ears, so faint he wondered if he was imagining it, but his rapid breathing hiccuped and slowed as he strained to hear it, and soon he could hear it clearly: birdsong, the most lovely birdsong Credence had ever heard, as sweet and pure as he imagined angels might sing. He looked up into the endless blue sky and accepted that he deserved salvation too. He was changing, trying to become a better person, to become the sort of man Newt thought he might be, the sort of man Newt was so seemingly effortlessly, kind and gentle and eager to help anything he found in a state of crisis.

The Phoenix had a wingspan wider than Credence was tall when it swooped down to the sand in front of him. Bright black eyes regarded Credence over a golden beak hooked like an eagle's, and he tried to remember everything Newt had ever taught him about approaching fantastic beasts.

"H-hello... I'm Credence," he said, figuring politeness wasn't a bad starting place whether the bird could understand him or not. "You're... um... you're beautiful."

The Phoenix tilted its head and clicked its beak, then flapped its wings once. For a split second Credence thought he'd offended it and it was about to kill him, but instead of going for his eyes, the huge bird perched itself on his shoulder, golden claws digging into his sweat-soaked shirt. 

And then the pyramids were gone, and Credence was standing in the hotel room in Cairo where he and Newt had been staying, looking into the utterly dumbfounded eyes of his friend and teacher. 

"Credence... _how,_ " Newt said, and didn't seem to be able to formulate a whole question. 

"It came to me," Credence said, and the Phoenix trilled and hopped off his shoulder and onto the end of the bed. "I... don't know why."

"There's a legend..." Newt glanced from the Phoenix to Credence and back at the bird. "A family, a legend that a Phoenix will come to any of the family in their hour of need."

"What family?" Credence asked, hearing the desperation in his own voice but too needy of the answer to feel shame about it.

"The Dumbledores," Newt said. The Phoenix trilled again and preened a wing.

"Like... your friend? The Professor?" Credence put the names together in his head, too scared to give them voice. _Credence Dumbledore._ It filled him with warmth, sweet and hot as Newt made tea. 

"I have to take you to him," Newt said. 

Credence held up both hands, as if to fend him off, even though Newt didn't come closer to him. "If... if it's true... will I have to stay with him?"

Newt froze, looking up to meet Credence's eyes to try and make sense of his tone of voice. "If you like, you can. Or you can stay with me. It's your choice. But he does need to be told, sooner than later."

"All right," Credence said. He already knew what he wanted to do. If that was who he was, that didn't change what he wanted to be, and what he wanted to be was Newt's.

**Author's Note:**

> Come leave me prompts at [my Pillowfort](http://Pillowfort.social/speccygeekgrrl/tagged/speccygeekgrrl%20writes)! If you need an invite code, let me know and I'll find you one!


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